I don't think so, BH etc.. don't offer education pricing. I doubt anyone but Best Buy and Apple do honestly.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
READ How to get BestBuy discount for new RETINA MBP
- Thread starter mohsy90
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I don't think so, BH etc.. don't offer education pricing. I doubt anyone but Best Buy and Apple do honestly.
Just went to my local BB. They denied me. :-(
I understand the "no double promotions/discounts." But Apple's Education Pricing ins't a promotion or discount. It's an everyday price for the select few. It's not a limited-time deal. And that's where I see the difference. Best Buy doesn't see it that way. They offered me a "half-way" (read: low-ball) deal: $50 with education pricing and claimed it's good enough when I can get $100 from Apple (for the App Store).
*sigh*
Guess I'll be ordering mine from Apple.
I understand the "no double promotions/discounts." But Apple's Education Pricing ins't a promotion or discount. It's an everyday price for the select few. It's not a limited-time deal. And that's where I see the difference. Best Buy doesn't see it that way. They offered me a "half-way" (read: low-ball) deal: $50 with education pricing and claimed it's good enough when I can get $100 from Apple (for the App Store).
*sigh*
Guess I'll be ordering mine from Apple.
Somebody is so defensive with best buy...
Best buy website has price match policy that they will match local stores that have sale. I showed them my student ID. I showed them apple pricing on their website. They even called and verify they do this at the stores. So, what is the excuse for not price matching apple's price?
Because best buy says they will price match and they have price match guarantee, but they did not. They lied.
My Best Buy has no problem price matching the student discount - that's a fact. But when it comes down to giving everyone the promotional $150 gift card for the Back to School Program, they'll get selective. You can have the gift card of the Apple Education Pricing, but not both.
actually they didnt lie, asshat. Learn to read the policy, it has a statement about not matching gimmick sales (2 for 1) or gift card/rebates. You got GG'd.
THANK YOU! Your comment just helped me get my own 15" 2.3 Retina!!!
I read it and was thinking "gee if he's right then everyone in this thread should print that out and take it back and get the rest of their discount." So I went to look it up and didn't find that it was true - and still don't think it is for instance Amazon doesn't give an education discount.
But in the process I found that macmall does have a written policy that they will meet any printed price. So I called them and they had them in stock and said they would meet the education discount. AND THEY WOULD HOLD ONE FOR ME!
Went over there with my proof of employment, a print out from the education apple store, a print out of their written policy and my credit card.
YAY!
If anyone lives near a macmall try there!
Actually I hate best buy and haven't shopped there in about 6 years. But I have been in the consumer service industry my whole life and hate entitled people who yell about nothing.
And yes Best Buy should have price matched but as someone else mentioned they have fine print.
Wow..
So I woke up this morning with one goal- get my $200 student discount applied to each of the 2 RMBP's I bought yesterday. The manager at the Best Buy location I bought them at refused to budge, so I did some research last night on top of reading posts in this thread and went prepared.
First, I went to the closest Best Buy to my house. I found the Apple representative, and he said he agrees I should get the discount because of their price match guarantee, but he'd have to talk to a manager. One manager said I should get a $150 credit on top of my gift card because Apple is giving $300 total ($200 off computer and $100 app gift card) and my $150 student discount on top of the $150 gift card I received the day before would equal the same amount. I was happy with that, because I can live with losing $50 to get a computer early. But they didn't stop there. That manager called the GM of the store just to make sure, and the GM said no discount will be applied. Even though the Apple rep and manager agreed with me, they couldn't do anything. They said the only other thing I could do was call Best Buy corporate and get them to over ride the GM. I called them while I was at the store, took about 30 minutes after the holding and explaining, and the Best Buy rep finally told me that Apple has a specific agreement with Best Buy that doesn't allow Best Buy to drop below an agreed-upon price. I told her no where in the entire Price Match Guarantee does it specify anything about Apple, but she claimed that this Apple agreement trumped the Price Match Guarantee. That's ********. What's the point of offering a "Guarantee" if you don't honor it? If you don't know anything about the price match guarantee, google best buy price match guarantee. Nothing about this computer falls under any of these categories. The only thing holding you back from making this argument is the fact that the Best Buy Store has to be within a 25 mile radius of an Apple Store. Mine was, but many of you will not have that luxury. Unfortunately, unless you really beg the manager, they'll shut you down because it specifically says they won't match an online price.
After my failed attempt at this Best Buy, I visited another Best Buy about 30 minutes away. I walked into the store, explained the situation, and they acted like they'd help me no problem. However, they were only talking about getting me a $150 BB gift card, and once they figured out I wanted $200 off each computer I bought they turned me down, saying it's the "only promotion we'll match of Apple's" even though it doesn't even get close. I proceeded to talk to the manager at that store as well, but he said although I'm right, they can't do it at that specific store. I'd have to take it back to where I bought it which was an hour away and the manager was a bitch. I thought I'd try one last Best Buy before returning to the location where I purchased the laptops in hope of another manager.
I then travelled to a third Best Buy store 45 minutes away, explained my situation, and the manager, although he said "the loss we'll take from the refund will affect our labor costs", which basically meant it will deduct from manager bonuses, but he unhappily decided to help me. I explained the entire situation, but when I got up to the customer service desk they were again just talking about giving me the Best Buy gift card promotion. However, right as I was about to say something the manager went and did something else and there was just me and a customer service rep. I guess since he didn't really care, I re-explained the situation and he said he could refund $200 for each computer. On top of that, it turns out we both attended Texas Tech University so he was even happier to help me out. He originally said he'd have to take back the gift cards, which I could've lived with, but then he said it'd be easier to just not include those at all in the refund process. Basically he did a return/repurchase procedure to apply the discount. Thank god this guy was the first nice person I ran into today. So, after everything was done, I received a $228 (don't know exactly how that figure came about) credit for each of the 2 laptops I purchased. So basically I received 2 $150 BB gift cards on top of $228 off each laptop. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me.
The whole process was extremely frustrating, wasting like half of my day, but at least I got the result I wanted. I'd say just keep going to Best Buy after Best Buy until you find someone who's not a dick head. I understand why Best Buy managers think they shouldn't price match because they all said they had "specific selling agreements with Apple", but they can't have a Price Match Guarantee if they don't honor it. Technically, all of us who are getting this student discount are getting something that's not technically allowed, but it's their own fault it's happening.
Aside from like 3, all the other people who helped me at Best Buy can go to hell. I'm just glad I found the right guy who went to my college lol.
So I woke up this morning with one goal- get my $200 student discount applied to each of the 2 RMBP's I bought yesterday. The manager at the Best Buy location I bought them at refused to budge, so I did some research last night on top of reading posts in this thread and went prepared.
First, I went to the closest Best Buy to my house. I found the Apple representative, and he said he agrees I should get the discount because of their price match guarantee, but he'd have to talk to a manager. One manager said I should get a $150 credit on top of my gift card because Apple is giving $300 total ($200 off computer and $100 app gift card) and my $150 student discount on top of the $150 gift card I received the day before would equal the same amount. I was happy with that, because I can live with losing $50 to get a computer early. But they didn't stop there. That manager called the GM of the store just to make sure, and the GM said no discount will be applied. Even though the Apple rep and manager agreed with me, they couldn't do anything. They said the only other thing I could do was call Best Buy corporate and get them to over ride the GM. I called them while I was at the store, took about 30 minutes after the holding and explaining, and the Best Buy rep finally told me that Apple has a specific agreement with Best Buy that doesn't allow Best Buy to drop below an agreed-upon price. I told her no where in the entire Price Match Guarantee does it specify anything about Apple, but she claimed that this Apple agreement trumped the Price Match Guarantee. That's ********. What's the point of offering a "Guarantee" if you don't honor it? If you don't know anything about the price match guarantee, google best buy price match guarantee. Nothing about this computer falls under any of these categories. The only thing holding you back from making this argument is the fact that the Best Buy Store has to be within a 25 mile radius of an Apple Store. Mine was, but many of you will not have that luxury. Unfortunately, unless you really beg the manager, they'll shut you down because it specifically says they won't match an online price.
After my failed attempt at this Best Buy, I visited another Best Buy about 30 minutes away. I walked into the store, explained the situation, and they acted like they'd help me no problem. However, they were only talking about getting me a $150 BB gift card, and once they figured out I wanted $200 off each computer I bought they turned me down, saying it's the "only promotion we'll match of Apple's" even though it doesn't even get close. I proceeded to talk to the manager at that store as well, but he said although I'm right, they can't do it at that specific store. I'd have to take it back to where I bought it which was an hour away and the manager was a bitch. I thought I'd try one last Best Buy before returning to the location where I purchased the laptops in hope of another manager.
I then travelled to a third Best Buy store 45 minutes away, explained my situation, and the manager, although he said "the loss we'll take from the refund will affect our labor costs", which basically meant it will deduct from manager bonuses, but he unhappily decided to help me. I explained the entire situation, but when I got up to the customer service desk they were again just talking about giving me the Best Buy gift card promotion. However, right as I was about to say something the manager went and did something else and there was just me and a customer service rep. I guess since he didn't really care, I re-explained the situation and he said he could refund $200 for each computer. On top of that, it turns out we both attended Texas Tech University so he was even happier to help me out. He originally said he'd have to take back the gift cards, which I could've lived with, but then he said it'd be easier to just not include those at all in the refund process. Basically he did a return/repurchase procedure to apply the discount. Thank god this guy was the first nice person I ran into today. So, after everything was done, I received a $228 (don't know exactly how that figure came about) credit for each of the 2 laptops I purchased. So basically I received 2 $150 BB gift cards on top of $228 off each laptop. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me.
The whole process was extremely frustrating, wasting like half of my day, but at least I got the result I wanted. I'd say just keep going to Best Buy after Best Buy until you find someone who's not a dick head. I understand why Best Buy managers think they shouldn't price match because they all said they had "specific selling agreements with Apple", but they can't have a Price Match Guarantee if they don't honor it. Technically, all of us who are getting this student discount are getting something that's not technically allowed, but it's their own fault it's happening.
Aside from like 3, all the other people who helped me at Best Buy can go to hell. I'm just glad I found the right guy who went to my college lol.
For anyone in NJ, the best buy in secaucus has a base model but will not honor the student price.
They said the $200 off on the receipt I showed them was with a purchase of a broadband card. When I tried to tell them it was not an offer, but I price match, they would not budge.
They said the $200 off on the receipt I showed them was with a purchase of a broadband card. When I tried to tell them it was not an offer, but I price match, they would not budge.
Thanks for posting the update, Trey M. I am going shopping today (fortunately not for an RMBP) and will see if I can get the $150 gift card from another Best Buy; the store I purchased at would only give me the normal $200 education discount.
just got back from best buy. after seeing all the evidence and receipts, i walked in and directly asked to speak with a manager. I told him that I had purchased a retina macbook yesterday and the manager there refused to give me a pricing match for the student pricing. I told him that i also spoke with another manager (arden fair mall in sacramento, CA) and the manager says that I should have gotten the discount as well. after being there for about 45 mins so that they could clarify and make sure everything was in order, they refunded me 237 in cash and allowed me to keep the $150 gift card. Make sure you tell them that apples student discount is $1999.99 along with a $100 app store gift card and that the deal is on the front page of their website. They will check the website for sure. if anyone needs me to post pics of the receipt as proof, let me know. BTW, stay away from Natomas best buy in sacramento. **** that manager.
Last edited:
Got my retina MacBook Pro from Best Buy...
So I originally ordered a 2.6/512/16GB from the Apple Store online after the keynote and it was pushed back to 7-10 business days. I already sold my laptop so I was kind of needing one. I live in the Indianapolis area and called around to all the Best Buy's and none of them had the retina models. I called a store about 45 miles north of Indy and they had 1 512 model and were offering to hold it for me. So I went up there and mentioned that I could get the $200 education discount through Apple and a $100 iTunes card and the associate said that they couldn't honor that because that price is not advertised on Apple's site. So i pulled it up on my iPhone showing them the model I want is $2599 online. I also showed them a copy of the receipt posted on here showing them I know it's possible. So he went and got his manager and she gave me the discount. I also got the $150 BB gift card as well, plus 18-month financing. Win/Win for me I'd say. So those who are given a hard time with the price matching, show them this receipt from here and apple's education store price and hopefully they will honor it for you.
So I originally ordered a 2.6/512/16GB from the Apple Store online after the keynote and it was pushed back to 7-10 business days. I already sold my laptop so I was kind of needing one. I live in the Indianapolis area and called around to all the Best Buy's and none of them had the retina models. I called a store about 45 miles north of Indy and they had 1 512 model and were offering to hold it for me. So I went up there and mentioned that I could get the $200 education discount through Apple and a $100 iTunes card and the associate said that they couldn't honor that because that price is not advertised on Apple's site. So i pulled it up on my iPhone showing them the model I want is $2599 online. I also showed them a copy of the receipt posted on here showing them I know it's possible. So he went and got his manager and she gave me the discount. I also got the $150 BB gift card as well, plus 18-month financing. Win/Win for me I'd say. So those who are given a hard time with the price matching, show them this receipt from here and apple's education store price and hopefully they will honor it for you.
Like I said earlier I had 2 RMBP's and they were on separate transactions. They refunded me $238 (I guess $1 difference is tax) and seemed to only charge me 1849 as well...however, I think they just did this so it wouldn't include the gift card you already received. They still are only refunding $238, so I don't think we're getting a steal...but I've looked at my CC statement like 5 times to make sure! If so we would've gotten it for $400 under retail...lol
----------
Everytime I tried to show the managers the receipts, yes I showed them both, they would say that that manager did a manual over ride and they weren't allowed or supposed to do that. I was like look, this exact person had the same exact situation. Why can't I get the same treatment! lol
its a steal because we are only suppose to get back the difference of around 200 but it turned out to be 237
Yeah, I told them that... and they said, "well, they shouldn't be doing it." And then they gave me the "take the education discount or the gift card." I rebutted saying Apple would give me both. And they came back, "well, education discount and 50 gift card (not the 150)."
Ugh. There was only one left, too!
They had Macbook Pro's!!?? I called and said they haven't received any shipments.
just buy the macbook pro and go to another best buy. the other best buy shouldnt care as much because the sale is not theirs.
Well they have to do a manual override whenever they do a price match. I remember buying a fridge at BB one time because Sears was selling it cheaper but I wanted to finance it with my BB card. So i just printed out the Sears page with the date and time that prints out on the bottom and he just looked at it, took it to customer service and had a manager come over to do an override for the price match.
They have a price match guarantee, and override is always required. Not sure why he said that they weren't supposed to do that....it's a price match!!
----------
Lol, this is also good advice!
----------
They should at least match Apple's total deal if anything of $300 ($200 + $100 gift card). Im surprised he lowballed you and said $50.
This is very similar to what I was told by a Best Buy employee today. I went in to check on the R-MBP stock and while they were checking in the back, I asked the girl (who obviously hadn't been there long) and SHE said that they match Apple discounts, and that I'd get $100 off. I told her it was $200 for the Retina, and she said 'Oh ok, is that what Apple is doing? I thought it was $100.'
I also asked about the gift card, she had no idea what I was talking about with that, but she said that whatever Apple did, they did. I'm not real worried about the GC, most people on here seem to think just having the SKU # will ring it up, and I believe that will be the case here too.
Anyways, no Retina's in stock... but at least I know when they are that I'll be good to go!
----------
YES! Take that white america!
I'd be appreciative if you could post a pic of your receipt... I'm well known by all those that refuse to honor a deal!